Sheriff describes fiscal crisis at agency

Published: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 7:21 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 7:21 p.m.

Sheriff Chris Blair paints a bleak picture of the agency he now runs, suggesting his deputies are under-manned, underpaid and ill-equipped.

In a presentation to the County Commission on Tuesday Blair also said there is a multimillion dollar gap in the Sheriff's Office's fiscal obligations and a woefully thin budget reserve for emergencies.

The agency, Blair said, was "dangerously close" to not being able to handle its obligations, and was in "dire strait need of some correction."

While Blair didn't ask the County Commission for more money in the upcoming fiscal year, he appeared to be laying the groundwork for such a request when the board begins deliberating the 2014 budget in July.

On Tuesday, Blair described a set of fiscal woes that runs wide and deep — based largely on the findings of an internal review conducted by a 70-member committee comprised of his senior staff and people outside the agency.

He observed, for instance, that Marion County had 0.7 patrol deputies for every 1,000 county residents, while statewide the average was 1.7 per 1,000.

Blair also noted that Marion County's starting salary for deputies is $28,600 a year. That made Marion County one of the 10-lowest-paying counties in the state for new deputies, and was $5,458 below the state average, according to Blair.

Marion also paid new officers almost $5,000 a year less than neighboring Alachua County and about $7,400 less than the city of Ocala, Blair pointed out.

"We are losing many good, qualified individuals from Marion County," Blair told the County Commission, because of the salary structure.

He maintained that he knew of law enforcement officers who continue to live in Marion County but have gone to work in surrounding jurisdictions.

Blair also said his fleet is aging badly.

According to his report, 390 of the agency's 545 vehicles, or 72 percent, have more than 100,000 miles.

Additionally, 86 percent of the sheriff's fleet are 2008 or older vehicles.

The sheriff said that suspect reliability of those vehicles created a safety issue for both his deputies and the public.

Blair also told commissioners that the Sheriff's Office was carrying a $10.1 million unfunded liability.

On Wednesday, sheriff's spokesman Capt. Jimmy Pogue said that pertained to sick leave, compensatory and vacation time owed to the staff.

Sheriff Blair pointed out to the County Commission that the amount was almost double the $5.8 million the agency was responsible for as of fiscal year 2005.

But the unfunded liability total has been dropping, down $1.5 million from a recent peak of $11.6 million in 2010.

Blair also pointed out that he had only $200,000 available in a contingency fund for unforeseen circumstances. He asked that the board consider bumping that up in case he needed to handle a crisis like the tornado that ripped through Oklahoma City on Monday.

On Wednesday, Pogue updated that figure to $498,000.

The standard set aside for county agencies is about 5 percent of the overall budget, which for the Sheriff's Office would mean upping the reserve account to more than $3 million.

Blair did not reference former Sheriff Ed Dean specifically in his talk but did note that the previous administration had purchased only 52 of 100 patrol cars authorized by the commission last year, as well as not assigning to the jail the 10 deputies the board OK'd for hiring there.

"Our focus is not on how the situation was created, but to identify the potential issues and work with our Board of County Commissioners to best serve our community," Pogue said in an email on Wednesday.

Pogue emphasized that Blair only wanted the County Commission to be aware of the fiscal challenges the agency now faces.

He added that Blair had not yet established specific totals of new dollars, new personnel, or new vehicles but that those are being developed for the upcoming budget workshops.

If the sheriff does ask for additional funding for the agency's $70-million budget, he would have at least one thing working in his favor: the economy is improving. Unemployment locally is way down, home values and sales are up.

But it might also be a tough sell for a number of reasons.

For one thing, the County Commission has been adamantly against raising tax rates, although the board did back an increase for Dean.

Between 2009 and 2011, during the height of the recession, the tax rate for the special district that funds the Sheriff's Office's operations jumped 78 cents per $1,000, from $2.03 to $2.81, which is the current level.

That was a 38 percent increase and meant the owner of a home valued at $100,000 for taxes saw his or her tax bill increase $78 over that two-year span.

The County Commission does not draft the sheriff's budget, but it has legislative authority to approve and oversee it.

A second obstacle Blair would face is a falling crime rate.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement's annual crime statistics report noted that major crimes were down 11 percent between 2011 and 2012 in Marion County, the most recent year available.

The report, released earlier this month, measures murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft. The FDLE report further showed an even steeper decline in nonviolent crime, down 13 percent between 2011 and 2012.

A request for an increase could also be viewed as a reversal of his campaign pledge to shore up the department's weaknesses without adding to the budget.

"In this tight economy," Blair said in one campaign ad from last year's elections, "the Sheriff's Office has to tighten its belt like any other division of government."

Blair said he could do that without sacrificing public safety by cutting the budgetary fat from the upper levels of the administration, reallocating resources and eliminating wasteful spending.

<p>Sheriff Chris Blair paints a bleak picture of the agency he now runs, suggesting his deputies are under-manned, underpaid and ill-equipped.</p><p>In a presentation to the County Commission on Tuesday Blair also said there is a multimillion dollar gap in the Sheriff's Office's fiscal obligations and a woefully thin budget reserve for emergencies.</p><p>The agency, Blair said, was "dangerously close" to not being able to handle its obligations, and was in "dire strait need of some correction."</p><p>While Blair didn't ask the County Commission for more money in the upcoming fiscal year, he appeared to be laying the groundwork for such a request when the board begins deliberating the 2014 budget in July.</p><p>On Tuesday, Blair described a set of fiscal woes that runs wide and deep — based largely on the findings of an internal review conducted by a 70-member committee comprised of his senior staff and people outside the agency.</p><p>He observed, for instance, that Marion County had 0.7 patrol deputies for every 1,000 county residents, while statewide the average was 1.7 per 1,000.</p><p>Blair also noted that Marion County's starting salary for deputies is $28,600 a year. That made Marion County one of the 10-lowest-paying counties in the state for new deputies, and was $5,458 below the state average, according to Blair.</p><p>Marion also paid new officers almost $5,000 a year less than neighboring Alachua County and about $7,400 less than the city of Ocala, Blair pointed out.</p><p>"We are losing many good, qualified individuals from Marion County," Blair told the County Commission, because of the salary structure.</p><p>He maintained that he knew of law enforcement officers who continue to live in Marion County but have gone to work in surrounding jurisdictions.</p><p>Blair also said his fleet is aging badly.</p><p>According to his report, 390 of the agency's 545 vehicles, or 72 percent, have more than 100,000 miles.</p><p>Additionally, 86 percent of the sheriff's fleet are 2008 or older vehicles.</p><p>The sheriff said that suspect reliability of those vehicles created a safety issue for both his deputies and the public.</p><p>Blair also told commissioners that the Sheriff's Office was carrying a $10.1 million unfunded liability.</p><p>On Wednesday, sheriff's spokesman Capt. Jimmy Pogue said that pertained to sick leave, compensatory and vacation time owed to the staff.</p><p>Sheriff Blair pointed out to the County Commission that the amount was almost double the $5.8 million the agency was responsible for as of fiscal year 2005.</p><p>But the unfunded liability total has been dropping, down $1.5 million from a recent peak of $11.6 million in 2010.</p><p>Blair also pointed out that he had only $200,000 available in a contingency fund for unforeseen circumstances. He asked that the board consider bumping that up in case he needed to handle a crisis like the tornado that ripped through Oklahoma City on Monday.</p><p>On Wednesday, Pogue updated that figure to $498,000.</p><p>The standard set aside for county agencies is about 5 percent of the overall budget, which for the Sheriff's Office would mean upping the reserve account to more than $3 million.</p><p>Blair did not reference former Sheriff Ed Dean specifically in his talk but did note that the previous administration had purchased only 52 of 100 patrol cars authorized by the commission last year, as well as not assigning to the jail the 10 deputies the board OK'd for hiring there.</p><p>"Our focus is not on how the situation was created, but to identify the potential issues and work with our Board of County Commissioners to best serve our community," Pogue said in an email on Wednesday.</p><p>Pogue emphasized that Blair only wanted the County Commission to be aware of the fiscal challenges the agency now faces.</p><p>He added that Blair had not yet established specific totals of new dollars, new personnel, or new vehicles but that those are being developed for the upcoming budget workshops.</p><p>If the sheriff does ask for additional funding for the agency's $70-million budget, he would have at least one thing working in his favor: the economy is improving. Unemployment locally is way down, home values and sales are up.</p><p>But it might also be a tough sell for a number of reasons.</p><p>For one thing, the County Commission has been adamantly against raising tax rates, although the board did back an increase for Dean.</p><p>Between 2009 and 2011, during the height of the recession, the tax rate for the special district that funds the Sheriff's Office's operations jumped 78 cents per $1,000, from $2.03 to $2.81, which is the current level.</p><p>That was a 38 percent increase and meant the owner of a home valued at $100,000 for taxes saw his or her tax bill increase $78 over that two-year span.</p><p>The County Commission does not draft the sheriff's budget, but it has legislative authority to approve and oversee it.</p><p>A second obstacle Blair would face is a falling crime rate.</p><p>The Florida Department of Law Enforcement's annual crime statistics report noted that major crimes were down 11 percent between 2011 and 2012 in Marion County, the most recent year available.</p><p>The report, released earlier this month, measures murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft. The FDLE report further showed an even steeper decline in nonviolent crime, down 13 percent between 2011 and 2012.</p><p>A request for an increase could also be viewed as a reversal of his campaign pledge to shore up the department's weaknesses without adding to the budget.</p><p>"In this tight economy," Blair said in one campaign ad from last year's elections, "the Sheriff's Office has to tighten its belt like any other division of government."</p><p>Blair said he could do that without sacrificing public safety by cutting the budgetary fat from the upper levels of the administration, reallocating resources and eliminating wasteful spending.</p><p>Contact Bill Thompson at 867-4117 or bill.thompson@starbanner.com.</p>